“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill.

Perseverance is one of the most important skills to have if you want to succeed. Maybe you were born with it, or maybe it’s something you have to learn. But one thing is sure, if you don’t persevere, you won’t get what you want.

“I’ve failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan

You might struggle while trying to fulfill your hopes and dreams, but if there is no struggle, there is no progress. Did you know Michael Jordan didn’t make the varsity basketball team the first time he tried out? Think about how quickly he could have given up. It’s hard to imagine someone like Michael Jordan not using his God-given talent, but that would have happened if he hadn’t persevered. He went on to become, what some still say, the best player in NBA history.

Walt Disney was once fired from his job at the Kansas City Star newspaper because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” His first business ended in bankruptcy. He was not able to manage money, and his business wound up heavily in debt. He was later known to say that all of his past failures helped create the successful Disney we all know and love today.

Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times while trying to create an electric light bulb.

Why give up?

A newspaper reporter asked him if he felt like a failure after trying 9,000 times unsuccessfully to create the light bulb. He said “Why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitely over 9,000 ways an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.”

Thomas Edison is the same person teachers once said was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive enough. Had he given up, he wouldn’t be known as the greatest innovator of all time. His company, GE, is still one of the largest publicly-traded firms in the world.